Overstating the Iowa results

NY Times:

Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, a first-term Democratic senator trying to become the nation’s first African-American president, rolled to victory in the Iowa caucuses on Thursday night, lifted by a record turnout of voters who embraced his promise of change.

The victory by Mr. Obama, 46, amounted to a startling setback for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, 60, of New York, who just months ago presented herself as the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. The result left uncertain the prospects for John Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, who had staked his second bid for the White House on winning Iowa.

Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Edwards, who edged her out for second place by less than a percentage point, both vowed to stay in the race.

“They said this day would never come,” Mr. Obama said as he claimed his victory at a packed rally in downtown Des Moines.

On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas who was barely a blip on the national scene just two months ago, defeated Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, delivering a serious setback to Mr. Romney’s high-spending campaign and putting pressure on Mr. Romney to win in New Hampshire next Tuesday.

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Considering Huckabee is unlikely to finish in the top three in New Hampshire a few days from now, it is way too early to anoint him. Romney has the money to keep going so the setback is not significant at this time and Rudy's strategy does not look so bad either. On the Democrat side, Clinton has the money to keep going. Edwards is the one who may have the most problem since he has been running on fumes from his campaign bank account and can't pump his own money into the race because he is using matching funds. It is doubtful his message of hate will resonate much in other states too.